Bringing In Backup
by riah alice drake
Summary: Some spoilers for Once 7x22 but mostly just cause I wanted some kind of interaction between Alice and little Robin :)


"But that's…. that's…" Alice gushed still staring at the five-year-old in the car fondly "Not now Tower Girl please." Robin begged her eyes still on her mother's "We really don't have time for this Mom so please can we just skip the questions and get moving already we're kind of on a schedule here," the archer begged while her hand slipped into Alice's more to keep the excited blonde from moving any closer to her younger self than anything. "You're soo adorable when you're younger. I mean you're adorable all the time but still I think I love you, even more, seeing littler you." Zelena's eyes widened when the blonde spun to press a kiss against her supposed grown-up daughter's cheek making said daughter blush like a fresh red apple just as the younger Robin pushed the door open with an annoyed groan.

"Mom can we go now? I'm going to be late…. again." the five-year-old complained slamming the passenger door closed behind her as she eyed both her older self and Alice "Who are you?" she questioned her obvious annoyance clear as she glared older Robin down. "hah look…. finally, taller than you for once Nobin." Alice smiled wrapping her free arm around the youngster bringing her close against her other side in a tight hug that the five-year-old surprisingly didn't seem to mind too much.

"Don't call me that." Both Robin's said together earning a full belly laugh from Alice that had her Robin not wrapped her arms around her to steady her would have had the blonde falling onto the wet pavement in hysterics. "She's weird." Young Robin commented prizing herself away from the strange blonde's hold yet unable to make herself move farther away from her. "Trust me, kid, you have no idea." Her older self-agreed earning a pouting playful slap to her arm "Hey that's why you love me." Alice corrected while Robin just rolled her eyes with an agreeing groan but her eyes shifting from her teary-eyed true love to her still gaping mother who'd been watching the scene with wide unbelieving eyes.

"Robin darling lets get you to Ashley's, shall we?" the mother bargain "All your little friends are probably missing you." That brought twin groans of: "No they're not Mom." from the younger and the older Robin "But you said we can get apple pie alamode for breakfast on the way first." The child argued "And I want to stay with her." the five-year-old pointed to Alice who was now giving the girl's older self a wide Cheshire cat smile.

Margot just sighed knowing she wasn't going to ba able to live this down for a long while once they managed to save everyone. "And we haven't even found of her name yet either and you said that that's not a nice thing to do when meeting new people." The younger version continued jabbing a finger at her older self. Alice smiled wider at the clear jealousy in the young girl's voice "You can call her Margot." Alice offered covering little Robin's pointing hand with her own and bringing a soft shade of pink into the five-year old's cheeks.

The name brought a questioning glare from Zelena but only Margot seemed to notice it. "What since I'm not allowed to call either of you Nobin and calling you both Robin would be confusing since there are two of you at the moment." Alice shrugged noticing her love's raised eyebrow look at the introduction.

"What do you mean there are two of me?" the girl Alice was technically still holding hands with questioned, "Cause she's you all grown up." Alice explained looking between both versions of her true love in a giggling kind of awe. "Nuhu." The five-year-old argued, "I am too." Robin argued matching the annoyed pout she was getting with one of her own then held up her hand when her younger self looked ready to fight back "and I can prove it too."

"That fire with the living room curtains and the weird green rug when I was four. That wasn't Aunt Regina tripping with a fireball in her hand that was her trying to teach me how to do a little magic for the first time."

"Auntie Gina said not to tell that Mommy would get mad and not let her come over to see us anymore for a while." The five-year-old whined close to tears now while Alice cradled her against her chest trying to calm her before they could fall. "Well desperate times kid I had to tilde on us to prove who I well who we are. And come on at least Aunt Regina already had a fire extinguisher close by already otherwise it would have been a lot worse." Margot added seeing the low burning anger in her Mother's eyes at the confession. That had an agreeing putting node in answer that seemed to calm the mother's misgivings about letting her sister babysit her daughter.

"So, I get to grow up to be friends with her and I get to be you?" both Robin's looked over at Alice one in watery eyed hope and the other in blushing embarrassment. The moment was somewhat dampened when the younger Robin's stomach started growling reminding at least Zelena that she had yet to feed her daughter any kind of breakfast that morning.

"Yes, to both those questions little love." Alice jumped in at once "and I have something you could have that's even better than pie and ice cream."

"What are you doing Tower Girl?" her Robin asked blunt curiosity in her tone while her younger self and her mother just looked at her like she was a complete loon. "I'm serious." Alice continued her eyes never wavering from the younger Robin's as she knelt down so her younger true love wouldn't need to look up at her too much pulling a freshly wrapped benya out of her jacket pocket.

"What? Come on like you didn't do the same thing love." Alice asked her eyebrow raised in quiet challenge as they held Robin's until the older girl reached into her own pocket to pull out two more. "They are really good Mom." She commented holding one of them out to her still seemingly shell-shocked Zelena. "But how about we discuss all of this in the car." She finished panicked when she spotted Grumpy and Granny heading toward them weapons raised and ready.

Alice stood up in lightning speed pulling the younger Robin up into her arms as she went while her free hand clasped Margot's half dragging half guiding the ducking archer along with her. "God I really wish I had my bow right about now." No sooner than the words were out of her mouth then she felt a familiar weight across her back and in her hand.

"Mom get in the car." Margot called out to the still frozen looking Zelena now blinking in proud surprise as the young archer smoothly drew and notched two arrows at once firing them both just as effortlessly while Alice finished strapping her younger self into the front seat of the car. "and I get to be like Daddy?" the girl gushed "Un-hu but now isn't the time to play hero Nobin get in the bloody car." Alice ordered not able to keep the smile from her lips at the young girl's enthusiasm in bagging her short legs against the dashboard in excitement as they both watched her older self.

"LOOK OUT!"

"ALICE…"

The pure panic in both her daughter's screams coupled with Alice's scream of pain when one of Granny's crossbow bolts dug into her leg while trying to wrangle her still battle minded archer into the car spurred the mother into action throwing herself into the driver's seat as her grown-up daughter dropped her bow to catch her falling love while the younger one slipped out of her car set to try and help. "Get in the ruddy car Robin." Alice growled around the pain in her leg pointing with her free hand toward the still open car door.

"We're in go." The archer confirmed now cradling Alice in the backseat letting the blonde muffle her curse words against her chest while in the front seat the five-year-old was still questioning why Granny was being so mean to Alice when the pretty blonde was so nice to her while Zelena was hissing threats at the diner owner for firing that crossbow at her daughters and her daughter's friend as she gunned the car's engine threateningly.

"Mom there's no time for you to go all Wicked Witch on them magic or no magic. Just get us out of here Please." Margot begged noting that besides the white-knuckled grip her mother had on the wheel that her bow was now up leaning against her younger self's side in the front seat. "We can't be Robin Hood without it silly me." Her younger self scolded seeing Margot's staring in the mirror.

The car lurches forward the breaks sticking at the sudden movement "Gah I'll tell you one thing that Granny woman really had good aim." Alice grunted as she and Margot both still trying to stop the bleeding as best she could when the car hit a pothole in the road just when Alice stubbornly pulled the arrow free before the tires squealed sending the four speeding down the side street and out onto the main road at top Cursed Car Classic speed.

"Is she going to be okay?" younger Robin asked trying to get a better view into the back seat from her car seat. "I'll be fine little Robin don't worry about me." Alice answered trying to sound upbeat when her teeth were still gritted together from pain. Margot didn't look as convinced pressing kiss after kiss against Alice's hand while they drove.

* * *

"Mom what are we doing here? We need to go home make something to help Alice then get the magic bean, so we can go save Aunt Reinga and the others." Margot yelled close to panic when the car skidded to a screeching halt in front of a house that definitely wasn't the one she and Zelena had shared back in Storybrooke.

Zelena didn't answer as she killed the car's engine and stepped out of the car to open the passenger door.

"Zelena?" David called out from the front porch sword in hand and confusion clear on his face at the sight before him. "Let's get her inside." Prince Charming decided after jogging over to see what was going on earning an agreeing node from Zelena and a pained whimper from Alice.

"Snow." David called out as soon as he'd carried the injured blonde over to the sofa and laid her down letting Zelena guide her shaking daughter into the farmhouse "Charming? What's going on?" Snow White questioned from the kitchen a dish towel slung over her shoulder and a puzzled scowl on her face "Who are these two?" she pressed eyeing Robin and Alice warily while the former dropped to her knees beside the sofa looking helpless.

"I'm guessing you have some kind of magic to help you get here being from the future and all?" Zelena asked waving off the questions for the moment, "We used the last of it to bring us here." Robin confessed in a broken whisper but then paused when she put her hand into her jacket pocket pulling out the pendant her mother had given her just weeks ago. "Well we do have this but I doubt it will do us any good now." the archer sniffed showing them the cracked stone. "How did you…" Zelena started but Robin answered first unconsciously pulling the chain on the necklace over Alice's head as she talked hoping against hope that it would help somehow. "You gave it to me when you asked me to be your maid of honor at your and Chad's wedding." Zelena felt her heart breaking at the crack in her grown daughter's voice at the admission.

"Robin dear go upstairs and play with Neal for a while alright?" she suggested earning a disagreeing pout from her young daughter who just shook her head and stomped into the living room and toward the prone figure laying on the sofa. "I'm staying here with her." little Robin growled throwing herself down into the floor sitting in the only remaining space between her older self and the couch.

Alice coughed out a small curse at that running her fingers in the little girl's messy hair to get her attention. "I'll be okay here my little love. Go up and bug Neal extra for me okay?" the blonde bargained putting on her best pouting expression. "Think you can do that for me?" she asked whipping her own blood from her hand on a cleaner part of her pant leg before caressing the young girl's cheek in a motherly sort of way until she nodded as she stood up.

"Feel better pretty Alice." The five-year-old whispered almost falling over her own feet with the weight of the bow that was altogether too big for her still slung across her back as she bent to press a parting kiss against Alice's hairline before dashing off toward the staircase leaving the bow clattering against the hard-wooden floor on the first step.

Everyone else was too busy watching the fading rainbow the had sparked in that softest of kisses between two destined true love to notice, however.

"Nobin?"

"Tower Girl." Margot hiccupped in relief crushing her lips to Alice's before the blonde could do more than just sit up on her own.

"But how?" Alice questioned as soon as they had to pull apart for air. "Apparently nearly bleeding out from an arrow wound counts as a sleeping curse now?" Margot shrugged first checking the place Granny's arrow had been and finding that there wasn't even a scar in its place before pulling her true love into her arms for a much-needed hug. "Humm I smell apple pie." Alice commented sniffing the air around them again.

"Yeah it just finished baking now would someone mind filling the rest of us in on what the hell is going on here before I call my daughter and have her throw everyone in jail?" Snow threatened already pulling her own bow and quiver of arrows from a side cabinet in warning.

"Okay super short version our family is in danger and we need your help to save them."

"Well, why didn't you say so. Let's go." Snow scoffed pulling her bow over her head to rest against her back while beside her David was already on the phone with Ruby asking if she and Dorothy would mind stopping by to babysit Neal and Robin.

"Let's go save our family." Zelena agreed holding out Robin's bow with a wickedly pleased smirk on her lips.


End file.
